Shattered Balance
by NekoSuave
Summary: "There's a thin boundary that separates what's real from what's not supposed to be real. One that shouldn't be broken." That is the law of the hunters. One night, someone got careless. Now, there's someone out there. Infected.
1. Chapter 01 - Beast in the Darkness

There was something out there, he always thought to himself. There was something more to life than just everyday events; to him, said events were just a cover-up for something far more sinister behind the scenes. Events that were darker in nature, more...otherworldly.

Jeff was sitting on the porch outside of Matt's house, trying to block out the noise from the party that was going on within, his brother deciding to have a get-together for all of their friends at only a few days notice. It was nearing the end of March, and the weather represented the upcoming change; it became warmer, but there were also frequent storms rolling in at least once a week. He looked at the puddles all over the yard, remembering the storm that had just passed. No one else heard the noise it generated, but he could tell that it was a bit mild compared to previous storms, despite its creation of winds that knocked down several loose branches. Now, the stars could be seen, despite the clouds obscuring a good amount of them. He put a hand through his near-shoulder length hair, pushing the blond and blue strands out of his face. His eyes were dull, showing that he was tired, and while he didn't mind the party going on inside, he was worn out.

For a moment, the music stopped playing, and Jeff could feel his head clear. However, the peace didn't last; seconds later, the bass began to play again. Deciding that the noise was too much for his head to bear, he stood up and walked toward the woods. They were a sanction for him, bringing him peace whenever he needed it. He hoped that they could do the same thing tonight.

– –

A car pulled up next to a house, and a figure stepped out, carrying a small brown bag with him. The house appeared to be abandoned. Its windows were cracked and the wooden planks that made up the house were falling apart. The door was slightly off its hinges. The man shook his head at the state the house was in, then looked towards the sky. Clouds were covering up his main concern, yet he couldn't relax at all. He carefully walked up the porch that led to the door and opened it, ignoring the loud creaking that emerged from it.

Inside, the man saw many pieces of furniture on the ground, all broken or torn apart. A thick layer of dust settled on the floor, and each step he took scattered the particles all over. He decided to check all of the rooms to make sure his quarry was still inside. His first destination was the kitchen; it turned out to be a bit neater than the living room, but not by much. Pots and pans were placed neatly in the sink, but several papers, including a few pictures, were all over the floor. He turned a knob on the faucet, and wasn't surprised to see nothing pouring out.

The next place to go was the basement, and it appeared to be worse than the rooms on the ground floor. The steps were a nightmare to walk on; every step unleashed a loud creak that was enough to make the man be on edge. The wooden railing by them was old and rotten, and when he tried to grab it, he could hear parts of it crack. Thankfully, he was able to get on the cold, stone floor without falling over. A stench bombarded his senses upon reaching the floor, but he was able to brave it due to him recognizing the main components of the smell: mildew and a hint of

As he began to look around, he heard a whimper coming from nearby. He immediately opened up the bag he had with him and pulled out two objects, leaving the map he brought alone. In one hand was a gun with a dart loaded in it, and in the other, a flashlight. He immediately turned the flashlight on and kept the gun ready. He saw that there were several boxes scattered on the floor, and that a portion of the stone wall had a trail of mold crawling up it. The whimpering grew louder, and for a brief moment, he wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from.

Finally, the man found the source of the noise as he turned a corner. Sitting by a rotting pillar was a man with light brown hair wearing a torn gray shirt and regular jeans. He didn't appear to notice the man as he approached with the flashlight. As he walked closer, the man on the ground lifted his head to look at him. The man looked like he hadn't slept in a while, as dark bags were under his eyes.

"H...Hunter?" the tattered man said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a tip that you'd be here," Hunter replied with a cold gaze. "Do you realize what you've done?"

The tattered man looked at him oddly, eyebrows raised in confusion as his blue eyes stared back at him. "What did I do?"

"Last night, you got loose again. It's was almost a full moon, so it was expected of you. But while you were out on your little run, you wound up finding one of our guys." At that moment, Hunter pulled something out of his bag and showed it to the man. It was a camo shirt, with several rips and tears in it. The man could see splatters of blood all over it, and he shrunk back. Hunter thought the man remembered what crime he committed, but he couldn't care less. "You killed that hunter," Hunter continued, ignoring the man's frantic sobbing. "Left his body behind for us to find."

"I didn't mean to!" the tattered man yelled as Hunter threw the camo shirt on the floor. "I wouldn't kill someone on purpose!"

"I know you wouldn't dare to kill a hunter." Hunter then raised the gun to the man's head. "But _it_ would. You know it would."

The tattered man immediately sank to the floor, his head drooping down. "You're right," he said with a saddened voice. "It would kill a hunter. What's to stop it from killing anyone else?" He looked back up at him. "How long have you been after me? Six years now? It doesn't feel like that long." Weakly, he stood up, using the wall to balance himself. "I wish it didn't end this way. I wish it never came to this. But please, just..." He then looked at the gun he was holding. "...Tranquilizers?" he asked weakly at first, but then he began to yell, his voice sounding hysterical as he screamed at Hunter. "Tranquilizers?! Why do you have a tranquilizer gun?! Are you afraid of killing me or something?!"

"No." With that, he fired a dart into the man's chest. He groaned as the dart hit him, but kept his gaze on Hunter as he fell backwards on the floor.

"Why?" the tattered man asked as he writhed on the floor. "Why won't you kill me?" He started to groan as he yanked the dart out of his chest. Hunter ignored them and walked forward, then pointed the gun at his chest.

"Believe me, I would've loved to put a bullet in your head. You should be grateful that I couldn't get any bullets."

Hunter aimed the gun at the man's chest again, but the tattered man's groans began to increase in volume. As he looked on, he saw the tattered man's veins press against his skin, and before long, he was forced to back away due to his thrashing. Almost immediately, he knew what was happening, and fired another dart towards the man's chest. In that instant, however, the man's hand flung up and grabbed the fired dart. He lowered his arm, and Hunter saw that his face had changed; his eyes had gone from blue to yellow, and the whites of his eyes had become darker, close to being completely black. He clenched his teeth and let out a growl as his canines grew longer. A disturbed smile appeared on his face the moment they finished growing in, and he slowly stood from his spot.

Hunter barely had enough time to react before the man lunged at him. They crashed into several old boxes that were behind them, breaking the objects inside and releasing dust everywhere. The tattered man attempted to swipe at Hunter with newly-formed claws; he could tell they just came in because he felt drops of blood land on his face. Hunter, however, had other plans. Grabbing one of the released objects next to him, which turned out to be a plastic pitcher, he hit the man on the side of the face with it, distracting him long enough to put his feet on his stomach and shove him off. The man fell backwards, near the old pillar.

As Hunter went back to his bag to grab more ammo, the man began to approach him, but stopped and let out a scream that Hunter was surprised to learn still sounded human. He could hear the tattered man's clothes rip as he pulled out several darts and loaded them into the gun. He turned around and fired two of them, managing to hit the tattered man's left shoulder and chest, but before he could fire the third, the man ran up to him and swatted the gun away. He quickly found himself on the wall, his throat being clenched as the man prepared his claws. Suddenly, he let go, and Hunter was able to throw him off again. Seeing the man writhe on the ground, he was able to deduce why he didn't finish him at that point.

"Looks like you're still not used to your transformations, huh?" Hunter taunted, despite knowing that it wasn't the best thing to do. The man glared back at him and stood up, but a loud crack coming from his back made him fall back to his knees. In the meantime, Hunter went to look for his gun. He threw several boxes out of the way, ignoring the noises they made as they crashed on the ground, and eventually found it by the corner. He grabbed it and turned around to face the man, but saw that he wasn't in the same spot anymore. The instant he heard a crash coming from upstairs, however, he got an idea of where he went.

"Goddamn it!" he yelled before running back to the stairs and made a beeline towards the door. At this point, the fact that the stairs could fall didn't matter to him. Just as he made it back to the kitchen, however, he felt something hit the back of his head. He fell to the floor, holding the back of his head as the plastic pitcher, now bent from being abused, fell to the ground. He looked up, and saw whatever was left of the tattered man. While at least half of his body was still human, most of his lower half had succumbed to the change, as evidenced by the morphed feet. Hunter let out a groan as the man put a digitigrade foot on his head, feeling the claws on his skin. "You wanted me to kill you, huh?" said Hunter with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, look what you're doing now."

He imagined that the man would finish him now, but that thought was dashed when the pressure on his head was removed. Hunter quickly got up and ran out of the house, just barely escaping the house in time to see him run into the woods. He began his chase, hoping that this would be as bad as tonight got.

– –

"The cycle starts all over again," Jeff muttered to himself as he looked at the branches from his spot underneath the tree, admiring the buds growing on them. His drew his attention towards the moon when he saw it through the branches. "Like you, huh? You're like the trees on the Earth. They go through a cycle of the seasons, just like you go through the lunar cycle. From full to new, then back to full. It just repeats."

He sighed as he got away from the tree and fished his cell phone out of his pockets. He flipped it open and looked at the clock, and saw that it was almost midnight. "Guess I'd better get back now," he said, putting the phone away. He walked away from his spot, and for about two minutes, all he heard were the sounds of insects and the rustling of the trees' branches as a result of the wind.

His relaxation abruptly ended when he heard something snap close by. He looked down to see if it came from a branch he might have stepped on, only to see nothing but grass. He turned around, but only saw the shadows the trees had cast.

"Is anyone there?" he asked, a small hint of fear noticeable in his tone. The only thing that greeted him was silence.

He shook his head, hoping that it was just his complex imagination playing tricks on him, but when he heard another snap, he was sure that he was not alone. He slowly backed away, his heart starting to beat faster than he realized. He began to back away, still staring at the trees before him.

And then, he heard snarling coming from the darkness. He could vaguely see a figure in the shadows, one that had yellow eyes staring right at him. Immediately, the first thing that came to his mind was one simple command.

"_Run!"_

And run he did. He turned right around and ran as fast as he could, hoping and praying that he would get to Matt's house before the...thing caught up to him. He thought that there weren't any wild animals in these woods, but that thing he saw, whatever it was, proved him wrong. He started hoping that this was all just a weird, fucked-up dream, and that he fell asleep against the tree. Yet the fear in his heart was starting to make him believe that he was still in the waking world.

Despite his best efforts, he could hear guttural panting behind him, slowly coming closer. He was starting to grow weak, but the thought of being killed made him keep running. Finally, it seemed that his efforts were about to be rewarded, as Matt's house was in view. He put whatever energy was left into running as fast as he could...only for it to be wasted when he tripped over an overlooked tree root. Cursing at himself, he tried to get up, but as he was on his knees, a sight made him freeze in place.

A shadow was now standing above him, and he slowly turned his head to see what it belonged to. He saw some sort of creature standing behind him, its yellow eyes glaring down at him. He was able to notice some of its features; it had dog-like ears, a muzzle, a bushy tail, and light brown fur. It grabbed him by his hood and began to drag him away, but Jeff refused to let it take him. He struggled, and as he was being dragged, he grabbed a large branch by him and smacked the beast's side with it. This only made it stop walking, and it looked down at him, letting out a growl as it let him go. To prevent him from escaping, however, it planted a foot down on his gut, making Jeff let out a choked groan.

"Let me go!" he yelled, but the creature refused as it gripped his shoulders, still keeping him down. It sniffed him, then let out a growl as it curled its lips and revealed its teeth, like it was smiling. It raised an arm and extended its claws, ready to strike down on its victim. Jeff used this opportunity to move away from it, but it wasn't enough; when the arm came down, it created slash marks across his chest, destroying the fabric in its way.

Jeff let out a stifled cry, but it wasn't from the thought of how it looked like the beast was going for his neck. He looked down and put his free hand against his chest, and when he removed his hand, he saw the blood covering it. His eyes widened in disbelief, and began screaming when the pain registered in his brain. The creature, as if his screams were goading it, slammed its hands on his arms, its claws forcibly puncturing the skin.

"P...please," he managed to sputter out, his voice stricken by pain and fear. As the beast snarled at him again, he began to imagine what would have happened if he did make it back to the house. He wanted to think that the monster would have left him alone, but it was just as likely that it would have decided to not only get rid of him, but to kill everyone else in the house as well. All of his friends, his brother...all dead. The mere thought was alone to make him cringe.

His thoughts were interrupted when the beast applied pressure on his arms, cutting the wounds deeper before moving them to hold his arms down. Saliva was dripping from its maw, and some of the liquid fell onto the wounds on his chest, burning them. A low grunt escaped Jeff's mouth as the creature opened its own. It raised his head, and almost immediately, it came down. Jeff's eyes widened as a surge of pain erupted from a spot to his left. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of the beast biting down on him. It looked over at him, and the sheer amount of pain and fear erupted through a loud, desperate scream

The beast began to bite down harder on the area, attempting to rip the flesh in its teeth clean off. Jeff could feel his collarbone break and the affected muscle tear from the pressure, making his agony worse. He could smell blood, and the scent made him feel rather sick and dizzy as multiple scenarios began to play out in his head. Maybe the beast would claw out his throat, like he suspected it was going to do earlier. Maybe it would try to take out his heart. Maybe it would leave him for dead for whatever reason. The skin around the creature's mouth was beginning to rip apart, and it seemed it was only a matter of time before Jeff lost a chunk of his body. Soon, his vision grew hazy, and it seemed that he would pass out before his inevitable death came.

However, he heard several noises, each sounding like something was fired; seconds later, the beast let go of him and a loud cry escaped its muzzle. Instead of finishing him off, it fled, leaving Jeff alone. His opportunity to escape appeared again, and he rolled on his side. He tried to move using the arm that was by the bite, but every attempt to move it was futile; pain would shoot through his body when he tried to raise it. Using whatever strength he could muster, he began to crawl towards Matt's house with his remaining arm. His panting was heavy, and his mind was still reeling from what just happened.

"Hold it."

Jeff looked back and saw a figure pointing something at him. Despite his hazy vision, he could make out a few details of this man; he had auburn hair that was about the same height as his, and he wore a leather jacket with denim jeans. His eyes focused on the object he held in his hands, and upon realizing that it was some kind of gun, he feared that he was about to be shot by him. The very thought of that was enough to make him ignore the figure and continue to move away from him. He hoped that he would be able to get to Matt's house before he passed out. However, he didn't get much farther before he felt something tug on his hood.

"I said, hold it."

"Wha...what are you doing?" Jeff whispered as he looked back again. "Let me...go..." The discomfort was starting to become too much for his mind to handle. He felt like his entire body was beginning to shut down. In a last ditch effort, he attempted to move his arm so that he could pull himself away, but the figure kept a tight grip on his hood.

"Kid, you were bitten. I'm sorry, but—" The figure looked up, prompting Jeff to do the same. They saw a couple of people heading their way. "Damn it," the figure muttered. Jeff quickly found himself lying flat on the ground, realizing that the figure was no longer holding his hood.

"Jeff?! Is that you?!"

Jeff groaned as he rolled over onto his side and began to crawl again. He heard a voice, but he wasn't sure who it was; his mind was still reeling. Another yell, however, caused him to remember. Now, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his body, allowing him to try to raise his body from the ground. His eyes focused again, and it didn't take him long to figure out who the blond with the backwards ball cap, white graphic tee, and bleached jeans was running towards him.

"Shannon?!" he yelled back, despite the very act of raising his voice hurting him. "Help me!"

Shannon ran up to him, followed by several others, one of whom Jeff recognized as Shane, the one wearing the black beanie, white shirt, and jeans, standing by some of his other friends. He could recognize the expression they had, though; all of them were staring at him, mouths hanging open or completely shut.

"We...we heard you screaming," Shannon started, still shocked.

Shane, however, was quick to snap out of his stupor and grabbed one of his arms, only for Jeff to cry out in pain.

"Not that one...please, not that one..." he panted out.

It looked like Shane was about to ask why, but his eyes trailed downward. Jeff could tell he was horrified by the wound, and who could blame him? It probably looked as bad as it felt. He promptly let go of Jeff's bad arm and went for his good one. Shannon helped and upon getting him up, braced Jeff along with Shane.

"Jesus, what happened to you?!" Shane yelled as he put an arm over his neck.

What happened next was a blur for the victim. The adrenaline quickly faded, and Jeff soon felt his entire body go limp. He tried to stay awake long enough to say something, but eventually, the desire to rest overcame him. The last thing he heard was someone screaming, but he wasn't sure who.

– –

Hunter shook his head and let out a low groan as he watched the scene from afar. He looked at his remaining ammo; only two darts remained in the gun. He hoped that the four darts he fired at the werewolf's back in addition to the ones from earlier would be enough to slow it down. At the very least, it should have been able to prevent it from hunting for the remainder of the night. It was what followed that gravely concerned him, however. Once he saw the bite mark, it was clear that he needed to take him back. However, his friends arrived before he could do that, and forced him to hide.

As he watched the people surround the man, he began to wonder if this was a about his decision and whether or not it was a good idea. Was it wise to leave him alone for now, when he rightfully should take him away? It seemed that, no matter which way he thought about it, some secret would be out in the open in the end. Either the werewolves would be exposed, or the existence of the hunters would be outed. And either way, it would end in disaster. People weren't supposed to know about the existence of his kind or of the monsters. He didn't want to think of what would happen if anything like this were to be discovered.

As he turned to walk away, he looked behind him one last time. Another man had shown up, though he couldn't tell him apart from the others. He was just staring at the broken man that now laid on the ground, the two friends having put him there. It was now that he thought about how, if he didn't screw up, this wouldn't have happened. This was now the latest addition to his laundry list of mistakes. However, he planned on fixing this one. In a month, those same people would probably be torn apart by their friend. He would make sure he'd be there to stop him. And while all of these thoughts went through his head, he could hear a familiar phrase uttered to him years ago, told by a friend he used to know well.

_If the victim was bitten, they're better off being dead._

He knew it all too well by now.


	2. Chapter 02 - Newcomer

"Jeff, are you okay?!" Shannon yelled. "Wake up!" He and Shane put him back on the ground, facing up. One of the men that followed them knelt down and put two fingers on his neck, checking his pulse.

"He's still got a pulse, but it's slow."

"Run back to the house and get Matt!" Shane yelled, and the man quickly stood up and ran off. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911 while Shannon tried to get Jeff to wake up.

"C'mon, man! Wake up! Tell us what attacked you!" He hastily pulled off Jeff's jacket and the shirt that was underneath, ignoring Shane's objections. On his skin, he saw the damage that was done; near his neck was a grotesque bite mark that dyed a portion of his flesh a deep crimson. On his chest were several scratch marks that looked damn near close to lacerations because of how deep they were. The coppery stench hung in the air, and he could feel himself becoming sick every time he breathed. Shannon turned around and saw other people arrive, with Matt being among them. He backed away as Matt approached his brother's limp body.

"Okay, ambulance is on the way," Shane said when he got off the phone. He and Shannon looked over at Matt, who had yet to say anything on the matter. He simply stared at him, as if he was unsure what to think.

– –

Two hours had passed since Jeff's body was discovered. Matt, Shannon, and Shane found themselves in a waiting room, Matt and Shannon sitting on the bench a few feet away from the door while Shane leaned against the clean, white wall. Time went by slowly, but as it passed, all three became more anxious. They feared that Jeff would be unable to make it, and wished that the doctor would come out already and tell them of his condition.

"Damn," Shannon muttered, breaking the silence. "What the hell did that to him?" Matt looked at him, then back at Shane, who remained silent. Matt was staring went back to staring at the wall Shane was leaning on, hoping that maybe Shannon would continue talking to prevent the silence from returning. Unfortunately, Shannon didn't go any further after that, and the painful silence continued.

After what felt like forever, the door he and Shannon were sitting by opened. A middle-aged doctor with glasses and thin, gray hair emerged, holding a clipboard. Matt looked up at him, waiting for answers that he desperately wanted.

"Well, he's still alive," he started. "Barely, however. We managed to stabilize him for the moment, but we don't know how long that will last." He rubbed his eyes, obviously tired from the hours spent in the operating room.

"Is he okay?" Shannon asked with a cautious voice.

"Well, that depends on your definition of 'okay', I'm afraid." He flipped through the papers on the clipboard, placing a finger on the one he was looking for. "He suffered quite a few injuries. Lacerations on the chest, a horrific bite wound near his shoulder...he was lucky that whatever did this didn't go for his neck. Combine that with the sizable amount of blood he lost before he got here, the broken collarbone, and the torn muscles near the bite wound? I honestly thought he was a goner. We managed to stitch up the cuts on his chest, but..."

It was Shane's turn to talk. "But what?" When the doctor didn't answer, Matt felt as if his emotions were about to boil over. This whole time, he tried to keep them back, for he didn't want to do something he'd regret. The longer the doctor didn't speak, however, the more difficult it became to keep them at bay. At last, the doctor gave them a reassuring look.

"Look," he said, somehow maintaining a smile, "we'll try to treat the bite in a few moments. If you'd like..."

Suddenly, Matt stood up and approached the doctor. As a result of the emotional storm going on from within, his expression was unreadable. He could tell the doctor was slightly frightened, though.

"Let me see him."

"I was just about to tell you that," he said before walking away from the door. "You three can see him, but please try not to do anything reckless."

All four men walked into the room, and almost immediately upon entering, Matt, Shannon, and Shane froze as they heard a series of beeps emanate from the EKG machine. There, lying on an operating table with several tubes and electrodes hooked to his body, was Jeff. As if an unknown force was calling out to him, Matt walked over to the operating table, stopping only inches away from his brother. He badly wanted to tell him to wake up, but a part of him thought it would've been pointless. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize his health, after all.

"Now, we'll begin working on the wound in about ten minutes, so be sure to say anything you want to say now, in case we...well, lose him." Matt heard a door shut behind him, then just stared listlessly, though he was able to hear Shannon's conversation with Shane.

"Man...I hope he pulls through," Shannon muttered. "I mean, he's been through some tough shit before, but this? This has gotta be the worst."

"Yeah," said Shane. "I don't think there's an animal in our neck of the woods that could have done this."

The internal storm was finally breaking him down, and Matt couldn't stop himself from shaking. He felt someone put his hand on his shoulder, while he tightly gripped the metal bar on the side of the bed he was near.

"Matt, I..." he started, but almost immediately, Matt fell to his knees, hands still gripping the metal bar. After putting up his facade for so long, it finally shattered into pieces as Matt began to cry. Another hand took the vacant shoulder, and he looked over. It dawned on him that Shane tried to speak earlier, as Shannon was now standing by the once-lonely shoulder. He felt a bit embarrassed by how he was crying in front of him, but the shame was drowned out by the whirlpool of emotion he was experiencing. Despair for his brother's life, anger at the thing that did this, happiness for the people surrounding him...those were some of the feelings he could immediately describe in his head.

A knock at the door caught his attention. "You have a few minutes left," the doctor said.

Matt looked up at Shannon, then at Shane, then at his brother. Still holding on to the bar, he got back up while Shannon walked up to the bed.

"I don't know if you can hear me," he started, "but I hope you make it out of this." His hand joined Matt's on the metal bar. "We had so many good times together, man. All those times we went on the motocross track, swimming in the pool, the parties...it'd be bad if you died now. Please, pull through." With that, Shannon backed away, allowing Shane to step forward.

"You know, you're tougher than the doc thinks. You're going to make it, no problem." Shane backed away, signaling Matt that it was his turn.

"Jeff, you're my little brother," he started, trying his best to hold his emotions back. "Brothers are supposed to stick together. I'll be sure to visit as often as I can, okay?"

With that, Matt backed away towards the door, joining his friends as they opened it. He looked over at the doctor, who was still standing by the wall, before following his friends down the hall.

– –

On any normal night, Hunter would have gone hunting out of boredom or fallen asleep. However, this was not a normal night. At least, not anymore. With a few hours until sunrise, he arrived at the nearest base he could find on his map. After two hours of driving, his body was begging for sleep, but he knew that he wasn't going to get any. Not until he talked to the leader of the base, anyway. He knew him well, so it wasn't going to take too long to get a hold of him, unless he was out somewhere. When he approached the door, he was confronted by the password system, consisting of a simple, numerical keypad attached by the door. Noting how worn the device looked, he carefully typed in the eight digit code and pressed the red button by the screen. If the leader didn't change the password recently, getting in wouldn't be a problem.

"_Password accepted,"_ it read as several locks from behind the door unlatched, the creaking noises they made being nearly impossible to ignore. Hunter waited a few seconds after the last lock came undone before opening the door and walking inside.

On the ground floor, the wooden walls and floors appeared to be just as worn as the keypad, and it was especially noticeable when he began walking around, hearing the floor creak in protest. Light from the lamp placed near the corner by the door was the only thing illuminating the otherwise dark room. He noticed the two sets of stairs across from him, each leading to different sections of the base, both located on the upper floor. By the set of the stairs to the right was another door labeled, _"Research/Tracking Room", _and, if he remembered correctly, close to the other staircase was a hallway leading to the rest of the base that was located on the ground floor. He was about to head to the set of stairs on the left when he heard a gun click behind him.

"Hey, Hunter."

He turned around to see a blond woman wearing a black shirt and pants along with a pair of heels. Wrapped around her hand was a silenced pistol, probably the same one with 'M.M' written on the holster. She gave him a smirk as she put the gun back into the holster tied around her waist.

"...Michelle," he said rather flatly, "I'm looking for Ric. Have you seen him?"

"Hate to break it to you, but he's not back yet. He and his pal are out looking for some vampires that were spotted nearby. Been gone since about four this afternoon."

He was about to ask if she had any idea where they would be, but then stopped himself. "A pal? Ric works alone."

"Not anymore," she responded with a rather annoyed tone as she looked at her watch. "The elite hunters are being paired up with some of the newbies. The Big Four decided on it yesterday."

Hunter raised an eyebrow at her; the whole trainee thing had caught his attention. "Who's your partner?"

"A girl named Layla. From what I was told, she's very nervous about the whole hunting business. Then again, why would she bother joining if she didn't feel like she'd do well?" She chuckled for a moment before her eyes returned to her watch. "You know, you're probably going to get one, too."

"I prefer to work alone." Michelle responded by raising her shoulders, as if to say 'don't say I didn't warn you'. Hunter was starting to grow impatient, but decided to go back to the matter at hand rather than asking why Michelle was so busy looking at her watch. "Any idea where Ric would be?"

"Not sure. But he'd better get back soon, there's someone – "

Right before she could finish, the door swung open and a resounding 'WOO' made him quickly turn around to find an old, blond-haired man and a much younger brunette at the door, both wearing black shirts and pants with dark dress shoes, though the older man wore a leather jacket while the other wore a gray vest. The huff Michelle made was enough to reveal her mood to Hunter.

"Show-offs," she muttered.

"You shoulda seen the _look _on their faces!" he boasted to them. "Especially their boss! Right when she found out who I was, hoo boy! She wanted to get away from me, but you know what I did? BAM!" He got out his shotgun from the scabbard on his back. "Shot her where it hurts!"

The trainee couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you did a great job, Ric."

"Yeah, because I'm the _greatest__!" _He patted his protege on the back. "And one day, you'll be just as great! I can feel it, boy!" He pointed to the ceiling, while Hunter couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. It appeared that Ric was too into his story to realize that he was standing near him. "One day, the whole world will remember your name, AJ! Hunters from all over will be kissing your—"

Finally, Hunter had enough and cleared his throat, managing to catch Ric's attention. The older man looked at him incredulously for a moment before laughing.

"Hunter the hunter!" he laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"_He _would _be the one to call me that", _he thought to himself before speaking. "Look, we need to talk."

"At this time of night, boy?" he said in response. "What, you need more ammo? That's all you've been doing when you're not busy or sleeping at the guest room."

Hunter felt reluctant to say anything, but he knew that if he didn't speak, Ric would get annoyed. He was infamous for his short temper, to the point where Hunter didn't know why he was still a leader of a base.

"Well, out with it!" he belted out, showing a glimpse of his temper. "Did you get someone, or what?"

"That's the thing...I need to talk to you." He looked at Michelle. "Alone."

Ric shook his head before looking at the her. "You heard him, he wants to talk to me alone. Now, git!"

"Yes sir," Michelle responded sarcastically before walking towards the hallway. As she left, Hunter gave AJ a look, though not before making a mental note to ask Michelle about her watch.

"Him too," he said, though Ric just laughed.

"Don't worry, he won't tell anyone. What I know, he knows."

Hunter just stared back at him incredulously. "Don't tell me you're trying to make that a catchphrase or something."

Before anything else could be said, Michelle returned. "By the way, someone's waiting in your room. She wanted to talk to you about becoming a hunter." With that, she returned to the hallway.

Suddenly, Ric's face beamed, which sort of scared Hunter. Very rarely would he see Ric like this, and when he did, he did his best to stay away. The hunt must have been a lot of fun if he was like this. "Hoo boy! C'mon, Hunter!" he yelled, and as AJ left, Hunter couldn't help but slap his forehead in frustration. He knew what was coming now, thanks to Michelle's reminder; he needed to 'thank' her later. As he made his way up the stairs, he heard Michelle yelling in frustration, presumably at someone. Maybe it was the trainee she mentioned earlier.

– –

A young, blond-haired woman sat on a nearby bed and looked out the window, seeing small glimpses of the full moon that had become obscured by trees. She could easily remember what happened this afternoon; she came into the base asking to see the leader. When asked why, she said she wanted to become a hunter. Once again, the other hunters asked questions, this time wanting to know her motive. She refused to answer. Finally, a blond woman, named Michelle, told her that becoming a hunter was dangerous, and that her life could very easily be cut short. She said she didn't care. Michelle seemed impressed with her response and told her to wait up in the upstairs room until the leader returned from his hunt. She was also told to use the bed if she got tired.

While she was waiting, she decided to inspect the room. Bookshelves were standing on opposite sides of each other, next to a cluttered desk. There was a picture frame on it, but for respect of the leader's privacy, she didn't look at it. Just like Michelle told her, a door to the right of the room's entrance led to a bedroom. The bedroom was small, to the point where the bed itself took up almost half of the room. Opposite of it was another bookcase, as well as a safe. Across from the bed was a window, and after she was done snooping around the main room, she looked at the sky for a while, before falling asleep.

Due to her anxiety over the issue, however, she kept waking up in the middle of the night. She decided it was better to stay awake rather than be taken from sleep's embrace again. At nearly three in the morning, she could feel herself grow drowsy; it would only be a matter of time before she fell asleep, only to wake up again.

"WOO!"

Her eyes widely opened as she heard the door open, and she quickly got out of bed just as an old man and two others walked in. She tried to carefully walk towards them, but the old man caught her just as she started to get out of the room.

"Well, lookie here!" he yelled as her eyes met his. "Guessin' someone told you to sleep in my bed because I took too long! So, whatcha doing here?"

"I..." She couldn't help but yawn for a bit. She was still rather tired. "I came here because I want to become a hunter."

"That so?" he responded. "Well, mind telling me why?"

She tightened her fists briefly, then loosened them before speaking. "I heard about you guys, how you hunt and kill monsters. I want to do the same."

Ric gave her a confused look. "That ain't it, is it? You've gotta have a better reason than that."

"I...I'd rather not elaborate any further."

"Alright, fair enough. What can you do?"

"What can I do?" Trish asked, doing a double take.

"What can you do that the hunters would benefit from?"

"I'm good at shooting," Trish started. "My family and I would go to a shooting range when I was little. Now, I would come back to it once in a while for practice."

Ric nodded slowly, a hand resting on his chin as he did so. "Okay, anything else?"

"I'm pretty athletic. I go to the gym at least once a week."

Ric looked up at the ceiling, as if he was deep in thought, but quickly looked back at her. "You know what?" he said with a smile. "Let's prove that. Tomorrow, we're having the new hunters train in a couple of courses. We also put people who want to join in them. If you want to join, you're gonna have to prove you can hang with the good hunters. Impress me, and you'll be part of the family." He looked over at the blond man, who was looking at her. He seemed uninterested. "If you do join, you're gonna need a partner."

"Oh, gee," she heard the man say unenthusiastically. "Am I involved with this in some way?"

"_Yes!" _he said with such enthusiasm, that the woman wondered if he really was as old as he looked. "You, my friend, will train her if she passes the course!"

She laughed a bit before extending her hand. "I'm Trish, nice to meet you." She wasn't sure if she acted cocky with this gesture, though; she meant to be polite.

The man sighed, then shook her hand. "Name's Hunter. We'll talk later." He looked at the old man. "Right now, I—"

"Now, she can stay and hear ya!" he said in response. "What you know, she knows, got it?"

"I don't see the point if she – "

"She can stay!"

Hunter shook his head. Trish got the message loud and clear, though. He didn't want her to hear what he wanted to say. Not that she would blame him; there was a chance she would never become his partner. "Look, maybe I can—"

"No, it's okay," Hunter muttered as the four found a few chairs in the office room to sit on. Trish sat by the young man, while Hunter looked at "Look, Ric...I'm gonna be honest. You're not gonna like what I'm about to say."

"Better to let me know now than to hide it from me."

Hunter appeared to have bitten his lower lip before speaking again. "It has to do with the werewolf that killed John yesterday."

"You mean the one in the woods, right?" the young man said.

"Yeah, that one. Well, I found him in an abandoned shack. Caught him right when he started to change."

"Well, that's not surprising. I mean, there _was _a full moon tonight!" Ric said. "You sounded worried about something earlier, don't tell me that's it!"

"No...there's more," he said with a tone that seemed to worry the other two, while Trish only understood an inkling about what they were talking about. A full moon was mentioned, so she assumed that a werewolf was involved in this somewhere. But then, if two of the three men were supposed to be experts, why did this guy sound worried?

"Well, out with it then!" Ric yelled. "None of us got all night!"

"He got away."

The last word made Ric go rigid, and that youthful energy from before seemed to disappear as his expression rapidly changed. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, he got away."

"You mean to tell me...that you, of all people, let the guy escape?!"

"I didn't _let _him, I tried knocking him out!" he yelled. "But this werewolf's smarter than he looks! If he didn't decide to play games with me, I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now! Why? Because _someone_ wouldn't let me grab some bullets for my gun!"

"Don't you get smart with me, boy!" Ric yelled as he decided to sit down.

"Well, it's not my fault that you're taking pity on werewolves while you're staking vampires left and right!"

"Enough!" he yelled, then shook his head, putting a hand on it. "Please tell me that's the worst you've got. _Please _tell me that's all you've come to tell me." He said it with such a cold voice that Trish couldn't believe that he was just bouncing with energy a few moments ago.

"I wish it was." The room was filled with silence for a few moments before he started talking again. "I managed to go after him, he's probably knocked out by now, but..."

"But what?" the young man inquired.

"Quiet, AJ!" Ric yelled, but then he rubbed his temples. "Sorry, boy...just a bit on edge at the moment." He looked at Hunter, Trish recognizing that an indescribable fury was evident in his eyes. The rigidity his body had from before was still present. "Don't tell me..."

"'Fraid so."

At that moment, Ric nearly went berserk; he stood up and grabbed Hunter by the collar of his shirt, and pushed him to the wall. "You mean to tell me that he bit someone?!" Ric exploded. "Why didn't you bring whoever got bit back here, then?!"

"That's the thing!" he yelled. "I was about to, but then his friends showed up! How was I going to explain the whole thing about werewolves to them?! They wouldn't believe me, then they'd probably blame me for what happened to the guy!"

"That doesn't matter! You know there's a very thin line between the humans and the monsters! If something like this happens, we take the person away to make sure the line stays as it is!"

"I know that! If I interacted with them, I would've risked destroying that line!" Hunter retorted.

Ric let go of him, and Trish watched as Hunter slid to the floor. "Do you have _any _idea what you've gotten us into?" he said with a calm voice, though his anger was hard to hide.

Hunter gave him a gaze before sitting up. "I know perfectly well, Ric. And believe me, I intend to fix it." He walked out of the room, leaving the lone girl in the room confused. Ric looked at her and sighed.

"I know it may seem that I paired you with him just because he was in the room at the time," he muttered, his face starting to return to his normal skin tone. "Believe me, there's more to it than just that. He _needs_ someone to be with him. To remind him of his mistakes, to let him know that he can't do everything on his own." Trish caught a hand going towards a picture that was on the desk. The man's eyes appeared to be filled with some kind of sadness, one she couldn't completely identify. She heard him say, "I never thought he'd screw up this badly." He looked away from the picture and back at her. "Now, I'm sure you're tired. Get her a room, AJ, will ya?"

AJ quickly stood up. "Yes, sir!" He helped Trish up, then started to walk away.

"Don't you 'yes, sir' me! We're not in the army!" he yelled as Trish and AJ left the room.

Despite walking, she was already starting to doze off, making it difficult to walk at times. If it wasn't for AJ being next to her, she would've passed out on the floor. As they walked down the stairs, she started to notice that the second and first floors looked different from each other. The ground floor looked more like a typical house, what with the old wood and all, while the second floor was more elegant. Whether or not that was because of the old man, she wasn't sure.

After going through a hallway next to the stairs, Trish and AJ had walked into an area with two doors. He pointed her toward the one on the right, saying the one on the left led to the guys' rooms. When the two departed and she went through the door, she was amazed to see quite a few women on the beds. Finding an empty one, she lay down and started to doze off, wondering what the next day would hold for her.

One thing was for sure, though:she was sure that she was going to make sure she passed the course tomorrow.

– –

For a few minutes, Hunter was sitting in his car, contemplating what to do. He couldn't stay in the base; Ric would have chewed his ass out otherwise. He eyed a photo on the dashboard, one that he considered taking down for some time, but he never got around to it. Half of it was covered up by duct tape, and the other half depicted a younger version of himself. However, when the full moon caught his attention, his mind returned to the man he left behind.

"_He's probably at a hospital now," _he thought. This meant he could still get him back to this base, but if he did it at this point, there was a good chance he would get caught, probably by a doctor or one of his friends visiting.

But he knew that it was only a matter of time before the doctors figured that there was something wrong with their patient. When they did, they would want to tell everyone about it, and everything would go to hell. It would start with the discovery of werewolves, then everything would fall apart from there. Hunter realized that, in hindsight, he really would've been better off taking the guy in front of his friends.

Then there was the matter regarding his partner. Something about her story made no sense to him. She said she was told about the hunters and monsters by someone, but no one outside of those groups would have any knowledge about them. In addition, hunters were sworn to secrecy; no one could tell anyone else about their existence. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Trish was hiding something.

He groaned and turned on his side before closing his eyes. He figured that an answer to that question would be answered soon enough. For now, he needed to get as much sleep as possible. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 03 - Odd Dreams and Odd People

Trish was sitting on her bed, exhausted. At nine in the morning, she was woken up by Ric's yelling over an intercom. As the yelling continued, she wished she was able to get more sleep than the five hours she was able to snooze away. She only had fifteen minutes to get ready and run out to the field; by following the other newcomers, she was able to make it there before time ran out. From her count, there were only nine others on the field besides her, Ric, and the other hunters standing across from them. The field looked like any other field to her, but when she heard Ric's voice again, she figured that they weren't just going to shoot at nothing.

"Listen up!" Ric yelled via megaphone, while most of the other hunters stood on the sidelines. "Now, most of you guys are new to this! Hell, only a couple of you have some knowledge on what we do for a living, and that's to hunt down the monsters! But all of you have one thing in common, and that's you want to prove yourselves to us! So for the next few weeks, you're going to be tested until you're ready to join us in the hunt!"

Trish noticed him looking over towards her direction. "I'm warning you, though! For a couple of you, this is your entrance exam! If you disappoint, you're not getting a do over! You're getting kicked out!"

Some of the audience clapped after Ric's speech, while Trish just stood still, concerned. What was she going to be judged on?

"Today, you'll be tested on how well you can hide! See, stealth is important when it comes to finding a creature! You don't want to get caught by a vampire, after all!"

He pointed towards the woods a few feet away. "Your job is to hide in there for sixty minutes! We will give you ten minutes to hide, then we'll come in there and try to find you! If you're found, one of us will take you back to the field! If you don't comply, we will tranq you and drag you back ourselves! Don't worry, we're using low dose tranquilizers, so you don't have to worry about dying from having too much in your system."

Trish looked at the person standing next to her, a woman with tan skin and brown hair. She looked as tired as she did. "So, we're basically playing hide and seek?"

The woman looked back at her. "Yeah. Must be some dumb sense of humor they've got." Trish noticed her looking at one of the hunters, who she recognized as Michelle. She smirked at her as she pulled out a tranquilizer gun and mouthed the words, 'don't get caught'. Trish noticed her shudder, as if she was afraid of Michelle.

"Alright, ready?!" Ric yelled. "Go!"

– –

Sitting still on top of a tree for nearly a half hour was already starting to make Trish uncomfortable. While she was sure that people were still in the game, she wasn't sure of how many were left. Roughly twenty minutes ago, she heard a lot of yelling coming from behind her, nearly sending her into a panic. The screams were quickly silenced, implying that they were knocked out and sent back to the field. Other than that, however, nothing else really happened.

Then, she felt a knock on the tree. She stayed absolutely still, hoping that whoever was down there would leave.

"Come on down," said a familiar voice. "I don't want to knock you out while you're up there."

She groaned when she recognized who it was: Hunter. Reluctantly, she climbed down, managing to land on her feet while Hunter waited for her. They began to walk back to the field.

"And here I thought this would be easy," she muttered.

"'Fraid not," said Hunter. "Most of us know where the obvious hiding spots are. A couple of us found a group of four in the same area. They tried running, but you can guess what happened." He looked back at her. "I had a feeling you were in that tree; I passed by it while I was checking out the noise. Thought I heard some panicked breathing."

Trish let out a groan, realizing that her freak out from earlier gave her away. "So, what now?" she asked. "Did I fail?"

At that moment, Hunter began to let out a hearty cackle. "Sorry, but you're not quite done yet. There's one more thing you've gotta do."

When the final hour passed, she learned what that thing was. After the effects of the tranquilizer wore off, all of the newcomers were taken to another part of the field, one filled with several obstacles such as a tall wall with small grooves in it, a second wall with nets on both ends, and a track with green hedges on both sides. She raised an eyebrow at the whole thing, then looked back at Hunter.

"What do you think we're in, the army or something?"

"You could say we're in an army ordered to fight against monsters," Hunter said with a grin. His behavior unsettled Trish; he was acting completely different from how he was last night. Before she could dwell on this, she heard a whistle blow from close by, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Now, until one, you're going to go through this obstacle course!" Ric yelled through the megaphone. "It's very simple. All you've got to do is finish the course in the lowest time possible. You'll go through this five times, and we'll combine your times at the end! And when all that's done, you're going to go through it again until it's one o'clock!" He surveyed the crowd, looking for someone to start. "We'll start with...you there!" he yelled while pointing at a dark-haired man standing by AJ.

"Justin," he said with a South African accent, sounding exasperated. "My name is – "

"Whatever! Now, go!"

A groan left Trish's mouth as Justin got started on the course, with Ric doing commentary as he went along. More pressure piled on her shoulders, for this seemed to be the make-or-break portion of the test. She looked over, hoping for some support, but noticed that Hunter was nowhere to be seen.

– –

As much as Hunter wanted to see Trish panic over the test, he felt that he could be doing something better instead of sitting around and watching the disaster known as the obstacle course, even if it would make a good laugh.

He went back inside the base and instead of going upstairs, or through one of the hallways leading to the other doors, he went towards the door next to the right staircase, the one labeled, _"Research/Tracking Room"_. When he opened it, a rush of hot air hit him, nearly causing him to perspire. A staircase awaited him, along with someone else standing at the bottom. The person was shorter than him, had black hair, and was wearing a gray shirt with jeans. As Hunter made his way down, the person walked up to meet him.

"Great to see you again, Hunter!" he said with a smile and offered his hand. "I was about to take a break, but if there's something you need, I can help you real quick."

Hunter shook his hand. "Evan," he said. "How's everything going down here?"

"Everything's fine," Evan said in response as both men went downstairs. The room they entered was markedly different compared to the ones above them. Several machines lined the walls of the room, each with at least one person manning them. In addition, most of the machines were lighting up the room, as the only other light source was coming from the open window that was near the ceiling. As the two men walked by, none of the others appeared to give them any mind; they appeared to be busy with the machines before them.

They approached a workstation separate from the others. Here, there was a white chair connected to a curved arch with the same color. In front of the chair was a black desk, where the keyboard and mouse resided. On the chair's left side was a black computer tower. The arch, from behind, curved upward so that it was above the chair, and ended in front of it. Evan opened up the compartment that was connected to the end of the arch, revealing three monitors. He got in the chair and pressed the power button on the tower. The computer started up with a bright flash of light emitting from the monitors.

"So," Evan started as he typed on his keyboard, "what brings you here?"

Hunter decided to be rather brief with his words. "I'm looking for someone."

"So you are, huh?" He cracked his fingers with anticipation. "Good thing you've come to the right guy. Okay, give me something."

"Can you find out if any hospitals in the area received patients last night?"

"I can try," Evan responded with a sly smile. His fingers flew across the keyboard, hitting several buttons until something popped up on the monitor in front of him. A local map had appeared, with nine dots flashing on it. "Anything else?"

"Now, how about hospitals that received patients between midnight and one in the morning?"

"You could have said something earlier." Once again, the keyboard found itself being hit over and over, and as Evan typed, the dots disappeared until only one was left. Evan moved his mouse and hovered over it, revealing its address. "Got it! Doesn't look too far away from here, either."

Hunter took a few seconds to memorize the address. "Alright, one last thing, and then I'll be done. Go through the hospital's records and show me all of the patients currently in there."

"You got it!" Once more, Evan worked his magic, and a second pop-up appeared, this time with a list of people on it. He hovered his mouse over one of the names, and a photo of the patient appeared next to the mouse icon. "This the guy?"

"No, that's not him." Hunter approached the monitors to get a closer look. "Keep going, I'll tell you when to stop.

Evan silently complied by moving his mouse down little by little, waiting only a few seconds before moving on to the next name on the list. This process lasted for roughly two minutes, until the mouse landed on the third name in the J section.

"Stop," he said, putting a hand on Evan's arm. Despite his hair being a different color than it was when he saw him, he could easily recognize his face. His eyes moved down to the mouse icon, as it stood next to the name the photo belonged to. Like with the hospital's address, he took a few seconds to memorize the name, before walking off. "Thanks, pipsqueak!"

"No prob..." Evan started, but then stopped. "Hey!"

Hunter smirked, and the smile remained on his face even as he reached the top floor. "Well, then," he said. "Looks like I get to pay Jeff Hardy a visit."

All that was left was to grab a few things and wait for Trish to finish with the obstacle course at one, if only to learn whether or not she passed.

– –

Matt groaned as he got up, still drowsy from his lack of sleep. He feared that his baby brother would die overnight, despite mentally telling himself that Jeff wasn't going to let death take him so soon. He knew his brother by now. He was resilient. He was not going to let an animal attack take his life away. Still, he couldn't help but worry.

He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever, even though it had really been a few minutes, before he finally got out of the bed. He decided he was going to visit his baby brother, to see if there was an improvement in his condition. After throwing on a random button-up shirt and some jeans, he looked at the time. It was almost noon.

"Damn, did I stay up that late?" he wondered. It didn't seem to surprise him, though. After grabbing his wallet, keys, and a black jacket, he walked out the door. The air was chilly, even though April was only a few days away. He reveled in the cold, considering that it actually made him a bit more alert than he was while in his warm house. He looked at the sky, seeing the sun high above the horizon.

As he reached the black car in his driveway, he pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. He leaned against the driver's door and waited for someone to pick up. He heard a click, followed by a voice.

"_Hello?"_

"Shane, hey," Matt started. "I'm heading for the hospital now."

"_You are?"_ said Shane. He clearly sounded like he just woke up. _"Shit, I just woke up, man. I won't be up there until later."_

"Really? I just woke up," he said in a teasing way. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"_Okay. Let me know how Jeff's feeling, alright? I'm still a bit worried about him."_

"Yeah, I will." With that, Matt hung up and got into the car. With his track record in speeding, it would only take a few minutes to get to the hospital.

"_Fine with me," _he thought as he started up the engine.

– –

It was close to 1:15 when Trish arrived in Ric's office, her clothes covered with rips and tears. She was considerably worried about her performance in the obstacle course, considering it was important for her to do well. Ric was just sitting in his chair, looking at a set of papers. She looked down, trying to hold back her panic. She needed to become a hunter, she had to.

"You okay?" Ric asked. She immediately looked up at him.

"Yes!" she abruptly said. "Yes, I'm okay."

The way Ric raised his brow made her think he thought otherwise. He handed her a slip of paper, prompting her to ask, "What's this?"

"Results!" he yelled. She felt that the same energy he had last night returned, but it didn't reassure her. She looked at the piece of paper and read through it. The ten newcomers were ranked from one to ten, and she was relieved to find herself at number three on the list. Only two people beat her: Justin, who she remembered from earlier as the first person on the course, and someone she didn't recall meeting named Ryan.

"Does...does this mean..." she started, but Ric responded with the smile he had plastered on his face. He extended his hand to her. Almost instantly, her fear faded away, and was now replaced with a joy she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Welcome to the family," he said as Trish shook his hand. At this time, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" he yelled. Trish turned around and saw Hunter walk in.

"How'd she do?" he asked.

"She was third overall in the obstacle course," Ric said. "Looks like you've got yourself a partner!"

Hunter, however, seemed to ignore Ric and looked at Trish. "C'mon. We're going to take a little trip." The way he said it reminded her of his demeanor from last night.

"Are you sure?" A part of her hoped he would say no, as she was wanting to sleep in triumph for the next few hours.

"Yes, I'm sure. Hunters usually go in pairs, after all."

"Well, if you say so..." She reluctantly got up and followed him out, looking back at Ric before leaving. "What's this for, anyway?"

He didn't say anything until they were out of the base and by the car. "Remember what I said last night? About a man being bitten?" Trish nodded back. "Well, I know where he is. Someone in the basement gave me the info I needed."

Trish was concerned about how a person in the basement told him things, and was about to ask him a question regarding the matter, but he turned the ignition, and the noise the engine emanated would have drowned out her question. They drove away from the base, with him maneuvering from the dirt road to the main one about two minutes later. He kept his eyes on the road while Trish opted to look at the scenery. Within twenty minutes, they found themselves outside of their destination; a hospital with plenty of cars sitting in the parking lot, making it hard for Hunter to find a spot. Eventually, after five minutes of looking for a parking spot, he parked next to a black car, far from the hospital entrance.

– –

The first thing Hunter noticed upon walking past the entrance was the man standing by the receptionist's desk. The man's hair was a mess and it looked like he just grabbed some clothes and haphazardly put them on. If it wasn't for the jacket, Hunter felt that he could have mistaken him for the tattered man.

"I came to see my brother," he said in a calm voice, though it was still loud enough for him to hear. The receptionist turned around and faced the computer screen by her, then put her hands above the keyboard before looking back at him.

"Okay, and who is your brother?" 

"His name's Jeff Hardy."

Hunter blinked, making a mental note regarding this observation. If the receptionist didn't bring it up, his first thought would have been that this guy was a friend of the victim's. He certainly didn't look like his brother; he looked like his opposite in nearly every single way.

"Well, he's recovering from the operation at the moment, sir," she said as a display popped up on the screen. "If you want to see him, you have to make it brief."

The man looked a bit disappointed, but he smiled back at her. "Thank you. What's his room number?"

"He's on the second floor, room 239."

The man turned around and, for a brief moment, saw Hunter and Trish before heading down the hallway. Hunter attempted to follow, but the receptionist stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, giving him a glare. "Are you here to visit?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm here to see Jeff, too. I'm a friend of his."

The receptionist raised a brow at him before shrugging and handing him a visitor's sticker. "Alright, second floor, room 239." She looked over to Trish, who began to come after Hunter. "Is she with you?"

He nodded at her, prompting her to hand Trish a visitor's sticker. They headed down the hallway, with Hunter ignoring the dirty look Trish was giving him.

"Did we really have to lie to her?" she asked.

"Trust me when I say lying's necessary in this business," he said in response as they neared the stairs.

– –

Pain.

All he could feel was pain. He was looking straight into an endless void, unable to move his body for whatever reason. His mind felt delirious; was he going insane? It didn't feel like it, but then again, he had no idea where he was. His eyes began to focus on something forming in the darkness. Spiraling swirls began to appear, either black or white in color. Internally, he was asking so many questions about what was going on, he began to think he couldn't think straight. His memory wasn't doing him any favors, either; the last thing he remembered was Shannon's screaming, and that was it.

Then, the swirls began to descend upon him as they changed form. Strands began to erupt form the black swirls, while the white ones developed rough edges. The swirls continued to shape until the black mess had gone underneath his unresponsive body, and the white chaos had split apart and laid on the darkness in the form of cylinders. Moments later, smaller, thorn-like appendages began to erupt from them, and the black strands started to crawl up them, wrapping themselves around the thorns and inflating the moment they stopped moving. Strangely, they started to look like leaves on the branches of trees to him. His skin could now feel something underneath, and when he clenched his hand around the blackness beneath him, he felt grass. As he looked up at the sky again, he realized the cylinders from moments ago had become black and white trees.

Well, this scene looked familiar.

All feeling in his body had suddenly returned, prompting him to sit up. Sure enough, when he looked around, he saw himself in the same woods by his brother's house, only in black and white instead of having any color. He raised his arm to see his hand, and realized that his body had the same color scheme; whatever clothing he had was black, and his skin was white.

Carefully, he stood up, ignoring the mild discomfort that plagued him as he felt his upper body leave the grass. He began to walk towards the white trees, then placed a hand on one of them. A black leaf fell from its branch and landed on the ground. Unlike regular leaves, however, it quickly turned into a liquid and was soaked up by the grass. A thought struck him as he moved his hand to feel the bark: where were the shadows? There was nothing indicating that a source of light was nearby. He tilted his head upward, and his confusion only got worse. The remnants of the swirls had come together, forming a large circle in the sky.

As he saw the shape form, the memories came back to him like a car wreck. He was in the woods to get away from his brother's party, just to have some time to himself. He was running away from something inhuman. He was scratched and bitten by that same creature. Yet its appearance still escaped him. Another figure entered his mind, one that he could clearly envision; the man with the gun. He remembered that he was about to shoot him, and probably would have succeeded if his friends did not arrive on time.

While he was lost in thought, the air around him grew heavy. He snapped back to reality when a fog began to envelop the forest around him. Through the thick air, he saw something hiding among the trees. Before he could recognize it, however, it vanished.

The next thing he knew, he felt the burning in his chest and shoulder again, making him double over. The pain had become worse than when he felt it in the real world, making him grip the dirt beneath him. As he screamed in anguish, he briefly opened his eyes, and saw the shape appear again. He shakily got back to his feet and began to run away, ignoring the pain as he began to hear the shape growl behind him. He removed his hand from his chest, and saw a black stain on it. It didn't take much for him to figure out what it was; it was his blood, presumably coming from his wounds. Why he was experiencing this, however, he was not entirely sure.

He turned a corner in the forest and immediately gripped one of the trees. The shape ran past, and Jeff was unable to get a clear look at it. He slid down to the ground, panting heavily as his eyes darted around him. Before he could catch his breath, he heard a growl next to him. His eyes widened as he slowly turned his head, only to be feel a hairy hand smack him away from the tree. He found himself in the same position as before, still as vulnerable as he was when the attack occurred. The creature walked over, revealing its appearance to Jeff. Unlike the rest of the world around him, which had some mix of black and white, this creature was completely covered in shadow aside from its eyes; they were completely white, without any indication of irises or pupils being present in the achromatic spaces.

It walked up to him with bared teeth, then leaped onto his body, its paws holding down his shoulders and legs. Panic quickly set in Jeff's mind; he kept asking himself why this thing was in his dream. The creature, meanwhile, opened its maw up, revealing its sharp teeth. This act triggered a memory in Jeff; when he was bitten by the monster in the real world. Paralyzed in fear, he could only utter a few words.

"G...go away," he said, his voice quivering with terror. The creature ignored him and raised its head, in preparation for an attack. The very thought of reliving last night's attack prompted him to yell one more time.

"_Go away!"_

Jeff's yell echoed throughout the forest, and the creature's mouth stopped inches away from his shoulder. Then, the creature raised its head in alarm. It looked up, causing Jeff to follow its gaze. The shape that hung in the sky began to deteriorate, and in time, the forest surrounding them did the same. The creature ran off, leaving Jeff by himself as the trees began to decay. The branches that fell to the ground liquified and were absorbed by the darkness, much like the leaf did earlier. Before long, the trees had completely vanished, leaving Jeff in an endless void, just like before.

Once he calmed down, Jeff looked at the hand that had blood on it, but saw that the black stain had vanished. For that matter, his wounds had stopped acting up. He stood up, somewhat surprised that he could be on his feet in this place without a discernible ground. There was no growling to be heard, so his first assumption was that the beast was gone. For the moment, he was alone.

Being alone in this world, however, did not make him feel much better. In the hopes of awakening soon, Jeff began to walk in the darkness. He didn't go far when a voice echoed in the void, one that he could recognize, yet sounded distant to the point where he could barely make it out.

"_For...I...lieve you..."_

Jeff looked up, hoping that this was a sign that he would finally wake up. "...Matt?"

The invisible ground below him gave way, and Jeff let out a scream as he fell into the darkness.

– –

Matt was looking at Jeff, who was laying in the hospital bed. The EKG machine was beeping steadily, something that made Matt relax the moment he walked inside the room. The doctor had told him that the surgery went well, and his brother should be out of the hospital in about a week if the wounds healed correctly. He still advised that he didn't do anything reckless, though.

"Good to know you're going to make it, bro," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, good thing."

Matt jerked upright and turned around, only to see the blond man he saw near the receptionist's desk.

"Who are you?" Matt demanded, not comfortable with having a stranger in the room.

"Oh, I'm just here to see how your friend's doing."

Matt gave him a look. "Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"Oh, you don't have to." The man walked around the bed until he was standing opposite of Matt. "When he wakes up, I'm going to ask him a few questions."

"Why?" he asked. The man gave him a glare in response. "Hey, I don't even know you."

Both men then sat down, staring at each other in silence until the man spoke. "It's about what happened to him when he was attacked. News of it broke pretty quickly. Not many animals around there can do...well, this."

Already an alarm went off in Matt's head. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the attack, and this guy already heard about it? As far as he knew, his friends were pretty quiet about the whole thing, though the possibility of someone telling the police was not out of the question. This guy, however, did not look like a cop to him; if he was, he probably would have told him that he was with the police before he started talking.

"Any idea when he'll be up?"

Matt looked back at the man after escaping his troubled thoughts. "No. Doctor didn't say."

"Shame." The man got back up and walked over to Matt. He handed over a slip of paper, then went towards the door. "Call me if he wakes up, okay?" With that, he left the room.

Matt looked at the slip of paper and shoved it into his pockets before looking back at his brother. Earlier, he couldn't help but worry about his condition; now he was wondering about the man and what he wanted with him.

A few seconds went by, and he could hear the man talking to someone outside. He felt tempted to listen in on their conversation, and eventually, curiosity got the better of him. Standing up, he moved to the door and put his ear against it. Although a bit muffled, he could still hear the man's voice.

What he heard was enough to not only raise plenty of questions in his head, but convinced him to keep that man away from his brother.

– –

Prior to entering the room, Trish was asked by Hunter to stay out here in case another friend of Jeff's showed up. So far, there wasn't a sign of anyone else appearing for him. However, she wasn't sure if this was a smart idea; neither of them knew he had a brother. Was it wise to talk to him to get information? She didn't think so, but she couldn't object to her superior.

As she rested her head against the wall, she could hear Hunter speaking to the man, despite being a few feet away from the door. Ever since she participated in the obstacle course, she felt wrecked, and sitting on a comfortable chair with cushions on the seat and back wasn't helping her stay awake. The temptation of slumber was growing in her mind, and she was trying desperately to stay awake, but she was already losing the struggle.

It was only when she felt someone shake her shoulder gently that her eyes opened again. Standing next to her was Hunter, his hands now firmly in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"C'mon, we're leaving," he said. Trish stood up, somewhat lost.

"Did you find out anything?" she asked.

"Yeah. Our little buddy's still asleep."

"What, you couldn't wake him up?"

"No," Hunter said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm guessing he's recovering from the attack." His voice lowered to a hushed tone as they walked by the door. "There's still the infection. It may have put him into a deep sleep."

"You think so?"

"Again, I'm not sure. I'm not entirely familiar with the symptoms. I'd have to ask the guys in the basement."

Again with the guys in the basement. As much as she wanted to ask about them, sleep was the one thing occupying her mind. When they reached the elevator, Trish decided to ask one more question, as it was bugging her ever since they entered the hospital.

"How are we going to get him out of here?"

He turned to face her briefly before the elevator doors opened, harkening its arrival. When both of them entered and the doors closed, he spoke once more.

"That's where you come in. When we return to the base, I'll put you on your first assignment."

Upon hearing that, a smile crept onto Trish's face.

– –

It was just now that the man's eyes opened. He was still in the expanse of the forest, though he could hear running water coming from nearby. His body felt like every bone was broken. Then again, that's how it felt every day after a full moon. As a result, it pained him to try getting up from where he laid. When he stood, he managed to wobble to a tree before losing his footing. His arms instinctively grabbed the tree to support himself.

"What happened last night?" he said with a groan. "I need to remember..."

He slid back to the ground and tried to focus. As a habit, he put his fingers on his temples to try to think. The first thing that came to mind was his encounter with Hunter. A lot of the memories that followed came out as blurred, colorless images to him. A few things stuck out, though: standing over Hunter, running out of the abandoned shack, chasing down a human...

His eyes shot open when the last image came to mind. This image, while still blurred and colorless, was more vivid than the rest. He was hovering over someone else, and his mouth was firmly closed over their shoulder. The screams were the worst, though. They were always more clear to him than the images. The realization sank in as horror washed over his face.

Before he could move, he found three figures standing in front of him, all wearing black robes. He couldn't see much of their faces due to the hoods covering them, but he could identify them based on what he was able to see. One was wearing a bandana around his forehead, and another was wearing circular shades. The third, while he didn't have an item on his head, was different from the others in that he had tan skin.

"Oi, is this the guy we're lookin' for?" said the man with the glasses. The grounded man couldn't help but roll his eyes at his pitiful attempt at a British accent, but the man with the glasses didn't seem to pay much attention.

"Yeah, that's him, alright!" the bandana man said in response. While the grounded man was a bit more convinced of his status as a foreigner based on his Scottish accent – it was certainly more convincing than the other speaker's – he couldn't help but think that something was wrong with these men. "It's funny, y'know. We've been looking for you all morning, and it's just now that we found you."

A rush of pain went through him as the bandana man grabbed him by his hair and yanked him away from the tree. He had shut his eyes in pain, but when he reopened them, he was staring at the man responsible. He appeared to have long hair, considering that some of it swept over his shoulders. That wasn't the main feature that frightened him, though. No, it was the man's blood red eyes that gave him reason to fear.

"You don't think the master will mind if I get a taste, will he?" he said rather ravenously.

The other man, who had yet to speak, smacked the man in the back of the head. He growled in response, but the man just shook his head at him. "Drew, we're not here to feed," he said rather sternly.

"Yeah, we're just here to take him back home, that's all!" the man with the glasses responded. "Now, come on. The sun's not doing us any favors."

Drew looked back at the man before smirking. The man shivered as Drew picked him up and carried him on his shoulders. Several thoughts raced through his mind, but at the moment, only one really stood out.

"_Vampires. That's just great."_


	4. Chapter 04 - Infiltration

Once again, all of the chapters got an edit before this one was finished, with Chapter 2 having the most edits. I have a bad habit of doing this, so I'm hoping this will be the last time I go on an editing spree. On a plus side, to make up for not posting for a few months, I made a cover page! Yeah, it doesn't look spectacular, but it's better than seeing the default image. Anyway, I'm keeping you from reading. I'll stop jabbering now.

* * *

><p>It had been three days since Matt saw the man that visited him and his brother. The instant he came home, the card he was given was placed on his drawer, and it hadn't been removed from there since. He had called Shannon and Shane and told them about the man, telling them to not trust a word he said should they ever meet him. He visited the hospital the next day, but every time the door creaked open, he would instantly turn around with, as Shannon told him, a slightly crazed look on his face. It had gotten to the point where Shane suggested that he not show up on the 30th, so that he could calm down a bit. It was now the last day of March, and the first thing Matt thought of when he woke up was that man.<p>

An infection. He mentioned an infection and how it could put people in a deep sleep. Wouldn't it be on the news if that were the case, though? Surely, something like that would be noticed by now. He desperately wanted to tell his friends, but had yet to say anything about it. Maybe it was out of fear that he didn't say anything. He was concerned that they wouldn't exactly believe him about an infection, especially since Jeff was clear of them, as Shane told him yesterday. But if he had no infection, why would that man bring it up? He wasn't sure. Maybe he really was putting too much into this, but something about this didn't sound right at all.

He grabbed his phone, then looked at the card on the drawer. He thought about calling the number on it, maybe he would get some answers then, but he ultimately decided against it. He figured that the man would give him false answers, or question how he knew about an infection. Telling him that he eavesdropped wouldn't end well. Instead, he dialed a familiar number before putting the phone against his ear.

"_What's up, Matt?"_ a familiar voice on the other line said.

"Shannon, you know where Shane is?" Matt asked. If Shannon wasn't sure, he would call him next.

"_Yeah, he went to the hospital to visit Jeff."_

"Okay, that's good. You're not busy, are you?"

"_No, I was getting ready to go myself."_

"Good. We have to talk. Meet me and Shane at the hospital."

"_What for?"_

Once again, Matt's eyes swayed towards the card on the drawer. While his eyes remained on the card, he answered Shannon's question. "About that man I told you about a few days ago."

– –

This whole thing with the man seemed ridiculous to Shane. Two days ago, Matt practically jumped at anyone who entered through the door, including himself and Shannon. It was even more ridiculous when it happened to him two more times that day, prompting him to tell Matt to take a break from the hospital. Although he objected, he eventually accepted when he told his friend that he and Shannon would keep an eye on his brother and let him know of any changes. Matt tried to convince him to call if the man showed up, but he refused, believing that he wasn't coming back for a while. He proved to be right, as the only other people to enter the room during the following day were Shannon, some doctors, and an old nurse.

Although he was sure Matt was coming back today, he hoped that he had at least calmed down by now.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he left the room to take the call. Upon looking at the screen and seeing the number, he knew it was Matt calling. He felt tempted to mention the old saying about how speaking of the devil will have him appear, but he didn't feel like doing that. He put the phone up to his ear and began to talk.

"What is it, Matt?" he said, hoping that Matt wasn't about to mention the man again.

"_Hey, are you at the hospital?"_

"Yeah, I got here early today."

"_Good."_ A brief pause, during which Shane could hear the sounds of traffic. _"Shannon and I are on the way. We need to talk."_

"Matt, don't tell me this is about the man," he said in exasperation.

_"Yes, it's about the man."_

"Damn it, I told you not to worry about him!" He didn't mean to yell as loudly as he did, but it was starting to piss him off every time Matt brought the man up.

"_No, there's something I never mentioned, but it just doesn't make sense no matter how much I think about it!"_ Shane couldn't help but let out a groan. _"Look, I'll talk to you when I get to the hospital."_

"Okay, fine. Just please, don't bring the man up again after today, alright?"

"_Okay, fine. Bye."_

Shane hung up, then looked back at his friend on the bed. He found it hard to believe that all of this started because of the animal attack four days ago. Sure, Jeff's going to be okay now, but now there's some guy Matt's worrying about, when he probably shouldn't be. Maybe there is something to be concerned about, but he wasn't convinced. Shane sat back down, and let out a sigh.

"Jeff, I wish you'd wake up right now," he muttered as he waited for Matt and Shannon to arrive. Hearing him talk would be the best thing to happen so far.

– –

Twenty minutes later, the three men were sitting by each other, with Shannon just returning from his seat after making sure the door was shut. Shane looked at Matt with an arched eyebrow, as if he was still skeptical about the whole thing; he got the idea from his phone call that Shane was not going to enjoy talking about the man again, but he had to. He decided that he was going to tell them about the infection, regardless of what they thought about it.

"So," Shane started, "what do you want to say this time?"

"When I mentioned him to you guys, all I said was that if you saw him, you shouldn't trust anything he said, right?"

The two men nodded.

"Well, there was something I didn't bring up, because I thought it seemed kind of stupid at the time. The more I think about it, though, the more it doesn't make sense." He grasped his hands together before continuing his story. "When he left, I heard him talking to someone. I already didn't trust him, so I decided to listen in, hear what he was saying."

Shane and Shannon gave Matt annoyed looks, as if to say they didn't really approve of him eavesdropping on someone.

"Anyway," Matt grumbled, wanting to get away from the awkwardness the mention of his act created. "He said something about an infection. How it puts its victims in a deep sleep." His friends gave him confused looks.

"So wait," Shane asked, "how come he's the only guy who knows about it?"

"Besides us?" said Shannon with a playful smile, though the grin vanished before he spoke again. "But yeah, why isn't this on the news? I mean, something that can put someone into a coma is kind of serious."

"That's what I don't get," said Matt. "That's why I said not to trust anything that comes out of his mouth. He might be trying to keep this whole thing a secret."

"But we know about it," said Shane as he placed his elbow on his knee, followed by putting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"Yeah, but there's not much we can do about it," said Shannon while adjusting the black bandana he wore on his head. "No one's going to believe a bunch of guys about something like this without proof."

Matt lowered his head and put a hand on the side of it. "Okay then, what do we do?"

Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened. This time, Matt didn't turn around in alarm; he didn't want to piss Shane off by acting overly paranoid about who walked in. Rather, he and the other men looked at the person that was standing by the door. She was a blond wearing blue scrubs, and a name tag on her shirt revealed her name to be 'Patricia Stafford'. She was holding a clipboard with a sticker of a couple of cartoon hearts on it.

Matt was sure he had seen her before.

– –

"Hello," she started. "I guess you're here to see the patient?"

Trish had to try her best to act like a nurse in order to avoid suspicion. A day after she and Hunter returned to Ric's base, she was introduced to the guys in the basement. From what she understood, they did their work there due to lack of room in other parts of the base. However, for the rest of the day and a good chunk of the following afternoon, a few of the men worked on a different identity for her and gave her some information about her target. Evan, who was the one who hacked her into the hospital's database, had to tell her after another exhausting run of the obstacle course that her new job as a nurse at the hospital would start tomorrow. Tomorrow had come, and after a debacle regarding the clipboard she held in her arms, she was finally able to start her mission: to gather information, and to get Jeff out of the hospital and into the hunters' hands.

The man wearing the bandana on his head spoke first. "Yeah, we're his friends."

"Alright. I wasn't interrupting anything, was I? I heard you talking to each other, so..."

"No," the short-haired man responded. "We were just talking about where we're going to eat for lunch, that's all."

She looked at the third man, and it didn't take long for her to recognize him. He was the man Hunter talked to a few days ago, and she feared that he might have recognized her. Though given that he had yet to say anything, maybe she was safe for the moment.

"Okay, I just need to look at the patient for a little bit, see if there's anything else he needs." She approached the body on the bed, looking over her notes. "Let's see...doctor didn't write down anything, so maybe all that's left is for him to wake up." She looked over at the three men, who were now talking amongst themselves. Seconds later, they stood up from their seats.

"Alright," the brother said, "we'll be back later. Just need to get some lunch, that's all." He looked over at Trish before leaving through the door. "Let us know if something happens, okay?"

"I will," she said before turning her head to face the patient. When she heard the door shut behind her, it was time for her to get to work.

It was this time she became grateful that they didn't take her clipboard away. She had to tell them she was a germaphobe and only used her clipboard that she bought some time ago, as she refused to touch anyone else's. While she still hated lying to people, she realized why Hunter said it was necessary in this line of work.

She looked back at the clipboard, and pressed her finger against the bottom of it. When she heard something click seconds later, she removed her finger and pulled out a small, wooden tablet with a document on it from within the clipboard. The document itself was composed by another man who worked in the basement; he asked to be referred to as Yoshi, rather than his real name. She looked over the document while looking back at the patient at the same time.

_LYCANTHROPY SYMPTOMS_

_Immediately After Transmission:_

_Intense pain all over body_

_Comatose state that lasts between three and seven days_

_Most awake sooner than later_

_After Awakening:_

_Regenerative capabilities_

_Minor cuts and wounds: heal almost instantly_

_Severe wounds (lacerations, deep wounds, etc): heal in about three hours_

_Broken bones/torn muscles: heal in about twelve hours_

_Punctured organs: might heal in twenty four hours; depends on which organ and how severe the damage is_

_Severed limbs do not heal_

_Increased appetite_

_Irritability_

_One manic episode (see note)_

_Enhanced athletic capabilities_

_Enhanced senses, minor_

_Nightmares that feel real to the subject_

_Near First Full Moon:_

_Feeling light-headed_

_Fainting spells_

_Hallucinations_

_Intense pain that lasts for about a minute_

_Pseudo transformation (body appears to be shifting, but reverts quickly)_

_Other Notes:_

_Some symptoms, usually increased appetite, irritability, and the manic episode, go away close to or after the subject's first full moon._

_Most subjects experience only one manic episode. If more than one occurs, or happens in conjunction with a depressive episode (which is not a symptom of lycanthropy), please consult a psychologist, as it may be a sign of a mood disorder._

After making a check mark by the 'comatose state' symptom, she put the tablet back inside the clipboard, and held it in its typical position once she heard it click into place. She walked around the bed, her eyes staying on the patient.

"Well, it's obvious he's in the comatose state," she muttered, "and it's been between three and four days since he fell into it. If what the document says is true, he might wake up any moment now." She looked over at the heart monitor, and made a mental note about the numbers she saw on the screen; it appeared his vital signs were normal. She sat down on the chair closest to him, and merely stared at him for a while. Oddly enough, he looked serene like this, as if he was a sleeping child. It would have been sweet if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't human anymore. While she looked on, she could hear noises outside; the sound of a child crying was the most prevalent.

While thinking of a best course of action, her hand reached out towards his tattooed arm, her fingers tracing the roots that crawled across him. Seconds later, however, she pulled her arm away.

"_Now's not the time to space out,"_ she thought to herself. _"I've got to think of something."_

Since he was still comatose, it was going to be hard to get him out of the hospital unless she had a good excuse, and she was sure there was no decent reason for getting someone in a coma out of the hospital. She had to think of a way, though; she didn't want to fail her first assignment.

As she tried to come up with a solution, another noise distracted her from her worries. The noise sounded like some kind of groan. What really made her jump out of her thoughts was the fact that the noise didn't come from behind her, but from in front of her. For a brief moment, she was lost on what to do and immediately rose from her seat. The patient's face tightened and his hands gripped the sheets covering him before his eyes opened a bit. He looked over, his head slowly moving as if he was aware of his injury on the left.

"Where...where's everyone at?" he asked with a voice that was clearly full of weariness. "Where's my brother?"

Trish blinked for a moment before responding. "They went out to get some lunch. They'll be back soon." Jeff groaned again as he put a hand on the metal bar on the bed's side, trying to get himself up, only for Trish to stop him. "What are you doing? You just woke up! Do you even know how long you've been out?"

"I need to see them," he wheezed out. "Let me get – " He yelled in pain, forcing him to lie back on the bed. His hand immediately shot up to his shoulder wound, holding it while his breathing turned into rapid pants.

Trish shook her head, and was about to tell him to rest until she heard a knock at the door. "Come in, please!" she yelled.

"Patricia, we need another nurse to..." The doctor looked at her and Jeff, then focused on the latter person. "When did you wake up?"

"Just now," Jeff groaned, still holding his shoulder wound.

"Okay, I'll notify your brother right away." The doctor looked back at Trish. "And Patricia, you need to go down to room 113. They need another nurse."

"Alright." Trish headed for the door, but looked back at Jeff one more time before leaving. She felt that her mission became much harder now; sure, Jeff was awake, but because of that, her window of time shrank drastically. It would take a few days for the doctor to clear him, and from there...

But for now, she had no time to worry. It was time to act like a nurse again and head for room 113.

– –

"I don't trust her," Matt said as he took a bite out of his food. He and the others decided to go to a local restaurant for lunch; the prices were fair, and they heard good things about it. So far, they weren't disappointed; the food came around fifteen minutes after they ordered, and it tasted pretty good. Up until Matt spoke, they were eating in silence.

"Trust who?" Shannon asked before stabbing a couple of green beans with his fork and putting them in his mouth.

"That nurse, Patricia."

"Why?"

"I know I've seen her before. She looks exactly like the woman I saw with that guy a few days ago." Matt took another bite, ignoring the clattering of silverware on a plate.

"Again, Matt?" Shane groaned. "I thought we agreed to stop talking about him."

"I know, but that was before I realized she's a nurse at the hospital. What if she's working with him?"

"Maybe she's just a friend of his," said Shannon after he swallowed another couple of green beans. "She might not know anything about the infection."

"I doubt that." Suddenly, silverware clattered on a plate, causing Matt to turn his attention towards Shane.

"Matt, I think you're putting too much thought into this," Shane responded. "I think Shannon's right. I think she's just a friend of his. You can be worried about the man and the infection all you want, but I don't think she's – " Before he could finish, Matt's phone started to ring. Immediately, Matt put his fork down and looked at the screen.

"It's from the hospital," Matt said and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"_Is this Matt Hardy?"_

"Yeah, this is him."

"_Your brother just woke up."_

Matt's expression quickly changed from somewhat annoyed due to Patricia, to one of sheer happiness. "He is?!" he said with a little too much excitement in his voice.

"_Yes, but he's still in pain. His shoulder wound might be acting up."_

"Can we come see him?"

"_Yes, you can. I will need to keep him overnight for the next couple of days to make sure he's recovering well, and if he improves, he should be able to go home by the end of the week."_

"Alright, we'll be there in a moment. Bye." He quickly hung up, then looked at Shannon and Shane, still brimming with excitement. "Jeff's awake, guys!"

"He is?" Shane said with a smirk. "Couldn't tell with how happy you sounded."

Matt immediately stood up, but was grabbed by the bottom of his shirt before he could go anywhere. He turned his head to look at Shannon, who had the shirt bundled in his fist.

"We still have to eat," he said as he let go. "Can't you wait a bit longer? Jeff's not going anywhere."

– –

He wasn't sure what was going on, but with all of the whispers he could hear, he could tell he wasn't in a very good situation. His eyes slowly opened, and at first, everything seemed really dark, like he was in a basement. Eventually, as he stood up, his eyes were able to identify shapes in the room. The rest of his senses caught up, but the first scent he caught was the smell of blood. Thankfully, it was a very mild scent, and was easily ignored. He soon realized he was in a confined space, but due to the darkness, he could only feel around to figure out what he was trapped in. The moment he felt bars, he started to feel incensed.

"Real funny!" he yelled as his hands went above him, feeling more bars. "A dog in its cage, huh? That's real funny!" The fact that silence was all that greeted him didn't make him less annoyed. What made him change his mood was when another set of hands grabbed the bars in front of him. Someone's face pressed against them, and the man could tell that he was scowling at him.

"I want you to shut up," he said, his accent immediately cluing the man to his identity: Drew. "You have no idea how hungry I am, and you being here is pissing me off." Drew turned away from him to look at the other shapes. "Can I eat him? I haven't eaten in weeks!" He looked dejected when the other shapes shook their heads at him.

"You have to wait," said another voice. The man didn't recognize this one; this person had an authentic British accent, not like the fake one the captor with the glasses had.

"I can't wait!" Drew complained. "If I don't get something, I'll snap!"

"You can. Our master said he'll bring food for us tonight."

The man heard footsteps coming from his left and moving behind him. The next thing he knew, a series of lights turned on, making some of the people in the room shield their eyes before relaxing. The man, in the meantime, was confused. As far as he was aware of, vampires usually lived in caves or maybe basements. However, he was looking at a bunch of vampires sitting on cushioned chairs, and when he looked below, he realized he was on a wooden stage. The walls around the chairs were a dark blue, while the floor was covered in carpet. The ceiling itself was elevated and made of wood, like the stage he was on. For whatever reason, the vampires made a home in an auditorium. His thoughts didn't remain on that idea for long, though; he soon heard Drew make a low, growling noise.

"Heath," the British man started, "do me a favor and keep Drew restrained."

"Will do, boss!" Heath yelled. The man recognized him as the one with the fake accent. As he watched Heath hold Drew in a full nelson, he could feel the cage shake briefly. He looked up and saw why it happened; the British man had put his hand on top of it. He could see this man's features clearly now: dark brown, slicked back hair, fair skin, and red eyes, just like everyone else in the room except for himself. In addition, the man wore a pinstripe suit with a black undershirt. He looked down at him, smirking when he backed away slightly.

"So, sunshine," he said in a mocking tone, "what's your name?"

"_A name? He wants a name?" _he thought. The man looked away for a moment, afraid about revealing his name. Although he still remembered what it was, he hadn't used it in a long while. For a long time, it was just one alias after another, and every time he referred to himself by another name, he felt uncomfortable deep down. In this case, however, he felt that using an alias would be the better option.

"Stan," he said. "My name is Stan."

"Stan?" the British man said with a chuckle. "Never knew anyone named Stan, and I've lived for eighty years now."

"Really?" 'Stan' said with a nervous chuckle before looking away from him. Something about him freaked him out deep down. It wasn't the fact that he was a vampire, or how he's lived for a long time as a result, but something about him just made him want to get away from him immediately.

A banging noise erupting from the left and rights sides of the auditorium made him snap out of his thoughts. Several men started entering through the sets of doors located at both sides, each one carrying someone on their shoulders. The people being carried had blindfolds covering their eyes. Some of the vampires were jumping towards them, causing others of their kind to restrain them at the last moment. Amidst this chaos, the British man jumped off of the stage.

"Enough!" he yelled. "Listen!"

'Stan' was surprised to see everyone in the room grow silent. At the moment, the only thing he could hear was some kind of distant whooshing sound, almost similar to the noise wind made when it blew. Then a thought came to mind: he hadn't heard that sound until now, which meant it just came up. And if the vampires were being quiet just to hear it...

The man tried to make a comment about the situation, but before he could say a word, the room began to fill with some kind of mist. His ears were now being assaulted by what he presumed to be the mist's howling, but when he listened carefully, he realized it wasn't what he initially thought it was. Rather, it sounded like whispers, ones that sounded pained and miserable. He tried to listen closely, to know if they were saying anything, but there were too many voices for him to figure out their words.

His attention turned back to the vampires. They were staring at the stage, but they weren't looking directly at him. When he turned to the right, he learned why. The mist was gathering in a spot next to him, causing the room to become less clouded until only a mass of smoke remained. The mist then sprouted limbs, each having no detail at first. Fingers sprouted from lumps on sticks that were slowly swelling up, while the legs began as simple protrusions emerging from the lower half of the mass. The lump on top of the mass began to contort, until three holes opened up on it. As the mist took on a more human-like form, the hole on the lower half of the top lump twisted into a thin smile.

Soon, the mist had completely faded, and in its place was a man with neck-length blond hair and the familiar red eyes. In addition, he wore a black tank top with pants and shoes of the same color. At that point, three thoughts cropped up. First, he thought the vampires wore too much black. Second, he wanted to know how his clothes survived going from mist to cloth. But the third, and most important, thought was a simple question.

What were they going to do with him?

While he pondered about the question, he watched the men drop the blindfolded people on the floor, seeing their bodies breathe slowly, like they were in a deep slumber. Despite at least some of them trying to jump them moments ago, the vampires continued to look at the one that emerged from the mist. He gestured towards the bodies on the ground.

"I understand," he said with a low voice, "that you needed nourishment. I gathered these people for you, my friends. Go on." He crossed his arms and watched as several of the vampires swarmed on the bodies on the ground, while others merely watched, as if they were waiting for their turn. The instant he saw a set of fangs pierce a young man's throat, 'Stan' moved to the back of the cage, where his hands gripped the bars in one of the corner. The smell of blood grew increasingly stronger within seconds, to the point where he started to feel dizzy. Deep down, a primitive desire to join them was growing stronger, one that he had resisted ever since he smelled blood earlier. A desire that he knew wasn't his own, but that of the monster's. In his state of weakness, he felt the cage shake again, and he did his best to keep his eyes on the ground.

"You don't look well. Are you as hungry as they are?"

Upon hearing the voice, he immediately looked over to his right, recognizing it as the one that belonged to the mist vampire. "N-no," the man blurted out. "I'm fine."

The vampire shook his head. "If you were fine, your heart wouldn't be beating like it is right now."

One of the man's hands immediately shot up to his chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly. With panic on his face, he looked over to the vampire. "How did you..." he started, but the vampire pointed to his eyes in response.

"I can see your heart."

'Stan' sank into the corner when the full meaning of his words reached him. He could see his heart. _He could see his heart._ The other vampires didn't mention seeing anything on him, so he wasn't sure if they bothered to look, or if it was a power exclusive to this man. He couldn't hope for either one, for they carried their own horrific implications. If all of them could see other people's hearts, then there's no way he could get away. They would know where he was

The vampire walked over to the cage, where he looked over to his kin on the ground. "Wade, are the keys on you?"

The one with the pinstriped suit stood from his spot by a young man, blood all over his mouth due to his feeding. He dug into his pockets and pulled out a set of keys, then threw it at the vampire, who caught them with ease. "You plan on letting him go? Some of these guys went out in the sun to get him." As if on cue, Heath, Drew, and the third unidentified man stood up.

"I don't plan on letting him leave," the vampire stated. "But he shouldn't starve himself, either." With that, he inserted one of the keys into the lock and turned it, then removed the tool once he heard a click come from the cage. He opened the door and stood aside, as if he wanted the man to walk out and be with these creatures. However, he frantically shook his head and refused to say anything. After a couple of minutes, Wade got on the stage.

"You want me to make him get out?" he asked as he cracked his knuckles.

The other vampire laughed. "Wade, that's no way to treat a guest. One must be polite." He walked inside the cage, and as he approached, 'Stan' became more disoriented. By now, the urge was pushing him towards his breaking point, and the threat that was nearing him wasn't making him feel any better. The vampire stopped in front of him, and 'Stan' feared the worst. Was he going to bite him? Was he going to hurt him?

Surprisingly, he extended a hand towards him.

"We're all friends here," he said. "There's no need to be afraid."

The man's body quivered as he felt minor twinges of pain. He desperately wanted to get out of this place. He didn't care how calm any of these vampires sounded, he didn't trust any of them. Some of the pain began to increase in intensity, signaling him to what was happening. The monster wanted out. It wanted its will to be enforced. He wasn't going to let it.

"I'm not your friend," he panted out, "and if you know what's good for you, you'll let me leave."

Rather than leaving him alone, the vampire knelt down, his hand still extended towards him. "Trust me, we're friends. Here, I'll even tell you one of my names."

'Stan' raised an eyebrow at that statement. He had more than one name? Wasn't entirely surprising, considering he wasn't a human. Having more than one name would help in the long run; he knew this for a fact. Another thing that bothered him, however, was how this vampire seemed to want his trust. What was the point in that? Wasn't he going to kill him eventually?

"Down here, I am called Gangrel. I lead this group of vampires. They're my family, in a way." He stood back up and dropped his hand. "I can see you still don't trust me. Very well." He turned around and left the cage, then handed the keys back to Wade. He promptly locked the door, leaving a very confused 'Stan' behind.

He wasn't sure how, but the desire to devour human flesh was now less demanding than it was moments ago, and the dizziness he experienced was completely gone. The monster felt far away for the moment, but he wasn't sure how long that would last. He found the strength to stand again, and walked towards the door.

"You're not going to hurt me?" he asked.

Gangrel looked at him through the bars, a smile still on his face. "I can assure you that none of my friends will hurt you during your stay." As he started to walk away, he looked back at him. "However, we can only give you water. I don't think you'd like our food. Do let me know if you change your mind about the issue, though."

When Gangrel disappeared into the darkness behind the curtain, 'Stan' couldn't help but resume his shaking. He was stuck with a bunch of vampires, and despite how calm Gangrel sounded, he refused to believe that the rest of his kind wouldn't try to kill him eventually.

He sat down, his back turned towards the other vampires that were finishing their meal. He didn't want the desire to make itself known again, and he wasn't going to tempt it by watching them draining other people dry.


End file.
